and of culinary practice until long after the discovery and
conquest of America. Fermented drinks were the natural
outcome of sweet juices from fruit, apples, grapes, and
others, or from exotic plants, such as the sugar-cane, or the
maple, or the toddy-palm, or the Mexican agave. Fermented
drinks from mcdted cereals were probably discovered later,
but have been known to all cereal-cultivating nations at all
times of which we have any historical record. A fermented
drink from mare’s milk, the Kiumys of the Kirgese of the
Asiatic steppes, was described by the father of history,
Herodotus, and remains a typical Kirgese product to this
day. The manner in which many culinary processes are
interlaced with processes for the production of stimulants
or alcoholic intoxicants is illustrated by the fact that the
same yeast which produces beer, wine and spirit ferments
the bread made from cereals.
Confectionery as a Measure of Culture.
The few aphoristic hints contained in the foregoing para-
graphs will suffice to direct the attention of the reader to
the fact that the objects and results of cookery will be best
understood by the light of its history. This we cannot pre-
sume to treat systematically, but we will endeavour to give
to our sympathizers such a short cjaicle to the historical litera-
ture of cookery that they will be enabled to follow any part
of the subject by means of special study. The history of
human culUire, or that kind of development which passes
under the unsuitable name of civilization, includes the
history of the science of food-preparation ; and this branch
affords sometimes interesting solutions of doubts, which no
other kind of history can solve.
We have proposed as a hypothesis, arising out- of the
results of our culinary studies, that the state of culture of
every nation could be estimated comparatively hy its con-
fectionery, even when we knew little of its cookery, for
6
THE SPIIUT OF COOKE R'i
confectionery is the most advanced and refined part of
cookery, and thus enables the expert to draw a conclusion
backwards regarding the kind of cookery out of which it
originated. Applying this hypothetical test, e.g., to the
natives of India, we had to admit that they possessed no
proofs of ancient civilization ; even curry and mulligatunny
owe their quality to English skill of adaptation, while the
purely Indian confections — that is to say, preparations con-
sidered by Indian natives in the same light as that in which
we consider macroons and meringues — are neither skilful in
their execution nor attractive in their taste.*
Qualifications for Authorship in Cookery.
Page 13
Presented as published in 1895. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
and of culinary practice until long after the discovery and conquest of America. Fermented drinks were the natural outcome of sweet juices from fruit, apples, grapes, and others, or from exotic plants, such as the sugar-cane, or the maple, or the toddy-palm, or the Mexican agave. Fermented drinks from malted cereals were probably discovered later, but have been known to all cereal-cultivating nations at all times of which we have any historical record. A fermented drink from mare’s milk, the Kiumys of the Kirgese of the Asiatic steppes, was described by the father of history, Herodotus, and remains a typical Kirgese product to this day. The manner in which many culinary processes are interlaced with processes for the production of stimulants or alcoholic intoxicants is illustrated by the fact that the same yeast which produces beer, wine and spirit ferments the bread made from cereals.
Confectionery as a Measure of Culture.
The few aphoristic hints contained in the foregoing paragraphs will suffice to direct the attention of the reader to the fact that the objects and results of cookery will be best understood by the light of its history. This we cannot presume to treat systematically, but we will endeavour to give to our sympathizers such a short guide to the historical literature of cookery that they will be enabled to follow any part of the subject by means of special study. The history of human culture, or that kind of development which passes under the unsuitable name of civilization, includes the history of the science of food-preparation ; and this branch affords sometimes interesting solutions of doubts, which no other kind of history can solve.
We have proposed as a hypothesis, arising out- of the results of our culinary studies, that the state of culture of every nation could be estimated comparatively hy its confectionery, even when we knew little of its cookery, for
confectionery is the most advanced and refined part of cookery, and thus enables the expert to draw a conclusion backwards regarding the kind of cookery out of which it originated. Applying this hypothetical test, e.g., to the natives of India, we had to admit that they possessed no proofs of ancient civilization ; even curry and mulligatunny owe their quality to English skill of adaptation, while the purely Indian confections — that is to say, preparations considered by Indian natives in the same light as that in which we consider macaroons and meringues — are neither skilful in their execution nor attractive in their taste.*
Qualifications for Authorship in Cookery.